Railway-rail spring.



No. 770,939. PATENTED SEPT. 27, 1904. G. W. SMITH.

RAILWAY RAIL SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.14, 1904 N0 MODEL.

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WITNESSES \NVENTOR GEORGE wu fl ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES Patented September 27, 1904.

GEORGE W. SMITH, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY-RAIL SPRING- SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No.770,939, dated September 27, 1904.

Application filed March 14, 1904. Serial No. 197,943. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. SMITH, acitizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Springs;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is especially designed for application to railway-trackswhere solid-metal cross-ties are employed. In the use of crossties ofthis character if the rails are secured directly to the metal ties byany suitable fastening device a construction is involved which isabsolutelv unyielding in its nature. In other words, the naturalelasticity of wood crossties is'absent, and there is therefore nothingto relieve the destructive pounding effect of heavy loads in transitalong the rails.

The object of my invention is to relieve the unyielding feature whichnaturally obtains in the employment of solid-metal ties, to which therails are directly secured; and to that end it consists of certaindetails of construction, all of which will be fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan View of a fragmental portion ofa rail and tie, showing the application of my invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detached detail in perspectiveof my improved spring.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a metal crosstie of the properdimensions, and 2 is the railway-rail, which is secured to the tie byany suitable fastener, the form shown in the drawings consisting of aclamp 3 and wedge 4, passing through an aperture in the tie, all beingof a particular construction which forms the subject-matter of aseparate application.

My improved spring, which is interposed between the rail 2 and tie 1,consists, preferably, of a flat central raised portion 5, upon which therail 2 has continuous resting contact across its entire width, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. The normal distance of this raised portion 5from the upper surface of the tie 1 is in practice from one-eighth toone sixteenth of an inch.

6 and 7 are the inclined supporting ends of my improved spring. thesides of the rail and are in resting contact with the upper surface ofthe tie.

8 and 9 are rectangular openings in the inclined supporting ends 6 and 7for the passage of the rail-fastener and are of sufiicient length toallow for the free and unobstructed play of the inclined ends as theymove in and out under the action of the spring.

The supporting end 7 (see Fig. 3) is shown as being made somewhatthinner than the opposite end 6 and should always be placed on theinside of the rail. The reason for this is that the pressure of the loadupon the rail is greater on the outer side of the same. Therefore byweakening the supporting power of the inner inclined end of the springthedownward pressure of the rail upon the spring is evenly distributedacross the width of the rail, thus preserving the upright position ofthe rail under pressure.

It will be seen from the above description that the presence of myimproved spring between the meeting faces of the rail and metal tiesrestores to the track the necessary amount of elasticity which is lostby the substitution of metal ties for those of wood.

I claim- 1. The combination with arailway-rail and a metal tie, of ametal spring interposed between the meeting faces of the rail and of thetie, such spring having a flat central raised portion, upon which therail has continuous resting contact across its entire width, andinclined supporting ends projecting beyond the sides of the rail and incontact with the metal tie, the inner projecting end having lesssupporting power than the opposite outer supporting end as and for thepurpose stated. 2. The combination with a railway-rail-and a metal tie,of a metal spring interposed between the meeting faces of the rail andof the tie, such spring having a fiat central raised portion, upon whichthe rail has continuous resting contact across its entire width,inclined Ihey project beyond supporting ends projecting beyond the sidesIn testimony WhereofIhave signed my name of the rail and in contact withthe metal tie, to this specification in the presence of two subthe innersupporting end having less supportscribing Witnesses. -r

ing power than the opposite outer supporting GEORGE W. SMITH. end, forthe purpose stated, and openings in Witnesses:

the inclined supporting ends for the passage W. T. MILLER,

of the rail-fastener. C. B. BUTLER.

